Matisse's DanceⅡhas ingenious syntactic structure for harmony [Rethinking modern art] Ⅱ

The second drawing  after the first tends to have very clear curvature.
We can pay attention on one curvature of one part at one time.
Therefore the curve becomes a chain of arcs when we draw it.
When we try to valance many arcs we are conscious of the extention of the both sides of the curve: circle.
As a result the circles almost start forming a pivot structure(with more than three circles  intersecting at a point).
Many genius noticed that this structure can be constructed to make balanced composition.
The good example of this process can be seen in Matisse's Dance Ⅱafter DanceⅠ.
The left  illustration is the first version.
Only the nude in the left is drawn with clear line.
It is obvious that Matisse intended to draw all the nudes in the same style in danceⅡ.
The right picture is made of round contours and looks more rhythmical and harmonious.
The outlines can be easily replaced with arcs of a few circles
.I used only six circles which function like a musical scale.              Matisse     DanceⅡarc model
Extending the arcs, the circle-arc model can be made.


         Matisse  DanceⅡ  circle-arc model
To see better the pink circle network stretching the entire surface, I make pink circle-arc model.



    Matisse  DanceⅡ  pjnk circle-arc model
The crosses show the intersecting points of more than three circles which are named pivot.
The pivots are systematically arranged.
There are two pivots on the green vertical line.
There are four pivots on the upper horizontal line and three pivots on the lower horizontal line.
There are two perfect circles; left one with four pivots and right one with three pivots.
There are six pivots on the light pink circle on the lower right.



The most dominant circles are shown in light blue.

    Matisse  DanceⅡ  blue circle-arc model
The largest pink circles make the base network, then  the network of the second largest blue circles overlap.
As the most of the arcs are the parts of the networks, the whole effect becomes  harmonious like the musical tones on the musical note.


Formal art history can be written as the history of inventions of such devices.
I wonder how many syntactic devices have been invented until now.
The present art world does not have the good atmosphere to produce artists.
I believe that the digital images are the medium of art in our time.
The painters for the gallery system are already outdated like chess masters.

Soon  the grammatical knowledge about art will be established online.
Then AI artist can be created.
As David Cope's Emmy composed almost-Bach, it will be possible for AI artist to paint almost-Picasso.
Besides brand new art styles may be invented as the AI chess master found many unexpected new moves.

Rethiking Modern art]Ⅰ Syntactic device in Cezanne's [Basel Five Bathers]

Any smooth curve is a chain of arcs.
Arc is a part of a circle.
An arc can be differeciated from another arc of a different circle.
Arcs can make a scale like tone scale of music.
Some artists with such notion  balanced arcs in a composition by handling the circles of the arcs.


Cezanne rediscovered the scaling system for composition.
What cubism was influenced by is a historical problem.
What Picasso and Matisse learned from Cezanne's  [Bathers] is a formal problem, which is quantitatively answerable .
I have shown that Sharaku (Hokusai) used syntactic device (pivot structure) intentionally.
We can find the syntactic use in art  everywhere and everytime as it is universal.
It is ovbious that modern artists were inspired by Cezanne's syntactic device.
 I should be able to find the use of syntax in specific Cezanne paintings.
I chose this square brownish painting called [Basel Five Bathers].




    Cezanne  [Bazel Five Bathers]　1885-87


To see how the motifs are extended arc model is useful to start with.
As the contour is simple and mostly enclosed by black lines,
the arc model is easily made. 

Though most of  his paintings with bathers look representational with full of green and blue, this painting is strangely un-natural: the space has no illusion of classical perspective;
 the light is not natural;
 many parts of the bodies are outlined with black
and the impression of the whole is brownish like Cubist painting.
This painting must contain something which attracted Picasso and Matisse.
The garment in the lower left reminds me of [Avignon].
And Matisse's [Dance] has similar borderline of sky and ground.


There is a related sketch on the facing page of this reproduction in the exhibition catalogue [Bathers].
We can see that the position of the body parts in the painting are following the gridded sketch.
This square painting is very schematic; each shape of the nude in the sketch is a motif to be extended.

To see how the motifs are extended arc model is useful to start with.
As the contour is simple and mostly enclosed by black lines,
the arc model is easily made.
   [The Basel Five Bathers]  arc model      


Extending the arcs, the circle-arc model can be made.
     Cezanne     [Basel Five Bathers]  circle-arc model


Next,  I make the blue circle-arc model to see the pivots better.
        Cezanne     [ Basel Five Bathers ]  blue circle-arc pivot structure model
 


The intersecting points (pivots) are shown with yellow crosses.




The lithograph of [bathers] in 1887-89 is a better example to recognize arcs.
     Cezanne  [Bathers]  lithograoh  1887-89


It is easier to make arc model because all the contours of the nudes are drawn in line.
I used only seven circles.
     Cezanne  [Bather  lithograph]  arc model


Next I extend each arc to make a crcle
     Cezanne  [Bathers  lithograph]  circle-arc model


We can see the largest green circles and the second largest pink circles make basic structure
      Cezanne  [Bather  lithograph]  green circle-arc pivot structure model


There are three crosses on two deep green circles.     Cezanne  [Bathers lithograph]  pink circle-arc pivot structure model




The pink arcs are grouped in two areas: lower left and middle right.
When the the circles form a pivot structure the circle-arcs are balanced with a sense of harmony.


The greatest accomplishment of Cezanne is that he rediscovered the long forgotten visual- grammar, specially the scaling of arcs.
And the modern artists further developed their own syntax.
Next time I am showing that Matisse used the pivot structure deliverately for Dance Ⅱ.